SCOTT RUSSELL

MAKE • DESIGN • CODE • MANAGE

I

making stuff. Especially stuff that makes customers happy.

About Me

Professional profile and contact info.

Hi! I’m Scott Russell, a technology generalist currently living and working in the Greater Boston Area.

I've been working in startups in various technical, managerial and production roles since I was in grade school.

My first computer was an 8085 CP/M machine donated to me when I turned 13, and I used it to write a desktop publishing program so I could buy my second computer, a Commodore Amiga. Since then, it's just been hackity-hack-hack.

For the last 5 years, I've been hacking microbiology and manufacturing - I invented a probiotic deodorizer for cat litter and one for green bins, built a factory, developed them into products and launched them with Home Depot, Home Hardware and Canadian Tire

Expertise

Skills that I’m proud of.

I used to do web work in Python back when it was very unfashionable (no DCOM support), and some of those systems are still running, more than a decade later. I had a vision for a better web framework and was trying to build it when Rails appeared and I became a complete convert.

I got into Rails pretty early (sometime in 2006), and I've been slinging Ruby exclusively for quite a while. I've done some trivial work with Backbone, Node and Laravel, just to stay current and trendy and relevant. I know PHP and enough C/C++ to get by, and I play with ObjC when I want something on my iPhone, but I keep coming back to Ruby and Rails, Sinatra, or something homegrown to scratch whatever itch I'm suffering from. At least until someone figures out a sensible way to deploy Smalltalk.

I mention programming skills a lot because I use code often to solve problems, but I also spend a lot of time soldering, welding, plumbing, sketching, painting, at the microscope, the white board, with a shovel ... I have a lot of passions and inexplicably, I manage to give them all 100%.

Worked with RSS, XML, XMLRPC and SOAP to develop automatic classification of data streams.

Led team building web application component solutions for content, billing, user asset and inventory management. Served as Manager of Internet Service business unit, providing internet connectivity to retail customers and hosting services to corporate customers.

Concurrent positions. Managed an engineering department and oversaw IT infrastructure during dynamic company growth, in a mixed Solaris, Linux, Windows, BSD and HPUX environment. Lead architect and project leader on multiple individual products, over multiple release and support cycles. Worked with team to prepare successful proposals for 300k ­- 2mm sales opportunities and assisted in pre sales and closing efforts.

While at Cerepoint, I became familiar with almost every position in a growing organization in both contributor and manager roles, including product marketing, trade show coordination, HR administration, sales, sales engineering, support desk management, and the coordination of a pre IPO due diligence team.

Developing models on massively parallel systems, predicting air and traffic flow. Designed embedded software and custom hardware for a system of “smart agents” responsible for simultaneously raising both energy efficiency and comfort levels for an HVAC firm. Lead architect, and managed implementation and installation of prototype “intelligent house” systems for security and energy management, using industrial robotics and PLC controllers.

Worked with the Santa Fe Institute researching and educating on the real­world application of chaos and game theory, fuzzy logic and autonomous systems in industrial and sales system Automation.

Education

Formal and otherwise.

1990 - 1992

New Hampshire Technical College

Associate Degree, Robotics and Electromechanical Technology

I developed skills relating to interfacing digital electronics to the real world through servos, actuators, hydraulics and user interfaces.

Most of my work here was on Vax 11 Mainframes and PDP-11 and homebrewed hardware interfaces.

1983 - 2005

The Barn (Richard Morley, Inc)

Practical Experience / Hard Knocks

Richard Morley, inventor of the Programmable Logic Controller, runs The Barn as a private think tank and startup consultancy in southern New Hampshire. This was amazing place for to mature, where massively parallel computers were available for 10-year olds to work on government contracts with, and 14 year olds were expected to join in on technology tiger teams / skunkworks development.

My time here was largely spent modelling and studying chaotic systems with sensitive dependance on intial conditions as a substitute for intelligence in manufacturing control. I was brought in to consult on streamlining manufacturing companies, to assist in research and prepare reports for clients such as GM and Yaskawa robotics, and to imagine purposes for technologies that had not yet developed uses.

Community Involvement

It takes a village...

2007 - 2010

Montreal Urban Community Sustainment

Volunteer - Director

A community sustainment organization partnered with many community organizations in Montreal and greater Quebec. MUCS spearheads many community initiatives, involved in food security, promoting equitable treatment and community growth. A MUCS member, coordinator and now a member of the board of directors for two years, in which time I’ve been involved in the Zero Food Waste program, which collects and redistributes unused food from local businesses to food security organizations, advised the Community Design Project on cooperative housing, and played various roles in the food cooperative and donation-based community kitchen.

Member of the conflict resolution team and a group that ensures the smooth execution of many MUCS projects and working groups. My role on the board is to ensure sound fiscal behavior and to guide policy development and maintain relationships with NDG and Montreal community organizations and businesses.

2008 - 2011

Montreal Permaculture Guild

Educator / Coordinator

A core coordinator of the MPG, an organization that tries to define and encourage a sustainable and permanent culture of waste-free living, while supporting and encouraging interaction and harmony with the urban Quebec lifestyle. Regularly facilitates meetings of the MPG, as well as provides logistical support and acts as an educator for classes on permaculture, food preservation, organic urban farming and gardening and energy conservation. Provides IT and logistical support for the organization’s projects and initiatives.